Boulder Valley School District: Have A Gun At Home? Ensure That Is Secure. It Can Save Lives And Is The Law

Boulder CO

06 December, 2021

6:20 AM

Description

Press release from the Boulder Valley School District: December 4, 2021 The recent school shooting at a suburban Detroit High School that killed four students and injured seven others is another grim reminder of why it is important that juveniles not have unsupervised access to firearms and that these weapons are safely locked away. Many families may not realize that this commonsense approach to keeping students safe is now Colorado law. In July, a new Colorado law took effect, requiring gun owners to store their firearms in a gun safe or with a lock to prevent juveniles from accessing them. We encourage all BVSD families to be "SMART" about gun safety. SMART stands for: Secure all guns in your home and vehicles Model responsible behavior around guns Ask about the presence of unsecured guns in other homes Recognize the role of guns in suicide Tell your peers to be SMART According to Be SMART, there are an estimated 265 million civilian-owned firearms in the United States and more than one-third of homes contain at least one gun. Gun owners can make our homes and communities safer by storing their firearms unloaded and unlocked, with ammunition kept in a separate place, to prevent access by children and other people who are at risk of harming themselves or others. Research shows that these storage practices can play a vital role in reducing the risk of gun violence, particularly among children due to unintentional shootings and gun suicides. As you may know, in March 2021 the Boulder Valley School District Board of Education was moved by startling statistics about this situation and passed Resolution 21-12 in Support of Secure Storage encouraging gun safety and especially the secure storage of firearms. Here are the facts that they specifically found compelling: An estimated 4.6 million American children live in households with at least one loaded, unlocked firearm. Every year, nearly 350 children under the age of 18 unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else. Another 590 children die by gun suicide each year, most often using guns belonging to a family member In incidents of gun violence on school grounds, 75 percent of active shooters are current students or recent graduates, and 78 percent of shooters under the age of 18 obtained their guns from their own home, a relative's home, or from friends Research shows that secure firearm storage practices are associated with up to a 78 percent reduction in the risk of self-inflicted firearm injuries and an 85 percent reduction in the risk of unintentional firearm injuries among children and teens. Assume children and teens can find guns. Store firearms locked, unloaded and separate from ammunition. The U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center recommends appropriately storing of weapons to prevent school attackers from acquiring firearms Averting Targeted School Violence - Secret Service's National Threat Assessment Center RELATED STORY: Help keep our students: keep a watchful eye, secure firearms What is secure firearm storage? Experts agree: in order to prevent access, firearm storage practices should include three methods employed in combination: Unload Gun owners should remove all ammunition from the firearm, including removing any chambered rounds. Lock Unloaded firearms should be secrured with a firearm locking device, such as a jacket lock or in a locked location, like a safe or lock box. Lockging devices, safes, and lock boxes are equipped with keys, combinations, or biometric technology that limit access. Remember: Firearm locks do not prevent gun theft. Separate Ammunition should be stored separately from the firearm in a secure location. Learn more on the Be SMART website. This press release was produced by the Boulder Valley School District. The views expressed here are the author's own.